DETROIT, MI -- In addition to taking home one of the most prestigious awards from the inaugural YouTube Music Awards, Eminem stole the night and provided the highlight with his machine-gun, breathless performance of "Rap God."

The six-minute-performance had the live audience screaming throughout as Eminem, wearing all black, strutted on stage with hype man Mr. Porter in front of a white backdrop.

"A man, a microphone, a DJ and some of the nimblest speed-rapping this side of Twista," Gil Kaufman of MTV.com wrote. "When Shady turned around and the camera caught a glimpse of the hyped crowd in the room, they raised their hands and jumped up and down to the lines about Rapunzel's cornrows and time-travel portals."

The YouTube Music Awards couldn't be seen on TV. In a unique approach to the award show, YouTube opted to harness the Internet and viewer participation online.

"The event was live-streamed the world over, and the awards were entirely dependent on the participation of viewers," wrote Hilary Hughes for USA Today. "Unfortunately, it got distracted by its own gimmick, and the chaos overwhelmed the otherwise inspired performances and subsequent dance parties."

The show was hosted by Jason Schwartzman and Reggie Watts with live performances by Eminem, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire and others pop stars.

Winners were selected 100 percent by the public.

"You chose them, you watched them and now it's official: here are the winners of the first-ever YouTube Music Awards," the award websites says.

Local hero Eminem accepted one of the most prestigious awards of the night, Artist of the Year.

YouTube said: "Artist of the Year honors the biggest acts of the last year on YouTube, based on total number of views, likes, shares, comments and subscribers."

Eminem wins the award a day after his Saturday Night Live performance aired and garnered some criticism from fans who thought he lip-synced his performance of "Berzerk" off his new Marshall Mathers LP2 set for release Tuesday.

Other YouTube Music Award winners included Girls' Generation for Video of the Year, I Knew you were in Trouble for YouTube Phenomenon and DeStorm for Innovation of the Year. (See full winner list)